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New Day

Emotions High at Ferguson City Council Meeting; NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Facing Scrutiny; New Technology from Apple; Obama Believes He Has All the Authority Needed to Carry Out ISIS Mission

Aired September 10, 2014 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY.

Here's a look at your headlines at 31 minutes past the hour.

CNN has learned that President Obama is indeed open to the idea of air strikes on ISIS in Syria. The president is going to lay out his strategy for defeating ISIS in a nationally televised address tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. It looks as though he has no plans to seek approval from Congress before moving forward. A reminder you can catch his address live here on CNN.

More than 400 people are dead after floodwaters swept through the border regions between India and Pakistan. The heaviest rains in 50 years have left towns and villages literally under water. The governments of both nations are facing heavy criticism for failing to prepare for and respond to that disaster. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the flood zone, but many more remain stranded on rooftops.

Back here at home, more fallout from the huge Home Depot credit card data breach. Two senators have now asked the federal government to investigate. Five states have launched their own investigations.

And angry customers are also fighting back. An Illinois customer has sued Home Depot, saying the company didn't do enough to safeguard customer information. Hackers may have gotten their hands on 60 million credit card numbers.

Emotions running high in Ferguson, Missouri, during the first city council meeting since teenager Michael Brown was killed. Demonstrators expressing frustration with their city leaders. Many in the crowd demanding answers. All of this as the grand jury continues to investigate the shootings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look around you, we're not going to let you go back to business as usual. It's not going to happen.

PEREIRA (voice-over): Hundreds of residents descending on the Ferguson city council meeting last night, looking to air their grievances.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This did not take for Mike Brown to die for some change to come.

PEREIRA: City leaders holding a meeting for the first time since Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was fatally shot by officer Darren Wilson on August 9th. The Ferguson City Council was set to discuss new proposals meant to smooth over the relationship with residents, but minutes into the meeting, protests erupted.

Residents expressing anger over the city's handling of the shooting, as well as what they say is years of mistreatment by authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have the Mike Brown movement in your face, because of your ongoing neglect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: None of us would be here if the police chief, you guys, put in office would have just came forward and said, we apologize.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First off, I demand change, period, across the board.

PEREIRA: Just hours before the meeting, a Missouri judge denied a request to release any juvenile criminal records Michael Brown might have had without giving a reason. The request was made by the "St. Louis Post-dispatch." That newspaper argued there was heavy public interest in Brown's background.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: At a hearing last week, a juvenile court lawyer did say that Michael Brown did not face any juvenile charges at the time of his death, and was never convicted of a serious felony.

Those are your headlines at this hour, guys?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's make a turn to the weather. Lots of changes going on there as well.

Indra Petersons -- of course, meteorologist Indra Petersons keeping track of it.

A lot of changes, right?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, where do you want to be today, you want to be where it's 80s right now or you're seeing 40s currently, with a chance of snow? Way too early to be saying that word right now.

But notice out towards Montana already seeing that cool air and, yes, the threat for snow is in the forecast today. We do have this set-up with the huge temperature clash across the country and, of course, we have the cold front right between it. So, with that we have the low in place. The jet stream, all the elements are there that we have the severe weather threat. Notice all the storms picking up and making their way in through

Chicago. Keep in mind, the severe weather threat will be heightened even through the afternoon. Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, looking for the threat. As we move in through tomorrow, almost 40 million people looking for severe weather. That's New York City, Philly, D.C., heads up, everyone, even back through Charleston, we're going to be talking about the line of thunderstorms making its way and disturbing a lot of flights in the air as well.

So, there you go, kind of a pick of which one you prefer. We have warm and showers the next several days, but eventually in the Northeast, cold air filters in and it dries out. So, let's talk about the difference here.

Look at some of the temperatures. Cold air fills in, 70s right now in through Denver as the high. Notice what happens by the time the cold air fills in you're talking about temperatures dropping down to the 50s, those are their highs, guys -- 30 degrees below average and all the cold air is spreading our way as well. So, no rain for the weekend, but colder.

BOLDUAN: I felt it this morning in the little time I spent.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: They have a word for it, it's called autumn.

PETERSONS: Not yet.

PEREIRA: She lets some awesome of there.

CUOMO: Autumn with an N.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Did you notice? There's only single digits on her map. I think she left some numbers off.

BOLDUAN: Do not blame the typos on Indra. There's no typos. This is reality.

PEREIRA: Brr, too early.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

CUOMO: I'm mesmerized by the arrows moving around the big green H.

PETERSONS: The big green H has cold air and it's called (INAUDIBLE). Some people are here, but I'm not a football girl, I know someone that is. That would be you.

BOLDUAN: I'm very happy. Do you know what that also means? Baby girl, she's going to be joining us much sooner, as soon as the temperatures fall.

CUOMO: Little Christopher.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. PEREIRA: Not so much.

CUOMO: No.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: We'll talk about the names. Everything is going to be fine, can't wait.

BOLDUAN: It's going to be Christopher.

CUOMO: Beautiful dress you have on today. It's very nice.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. What?

CUOMO: He is known as the judge, jury and executioner of the NFL.

You always compliment a pregnant whenever you can.

But now, it is Commissioner Roger Goodell, that man, who is on trial. Will his story about what he knew about the Ray Rice assault on his wife hold up? There are already calls for him to step down. Now, he maybe a new name to you, and you'll be surprised to learn how he arrived at the helm of the most profitable sport in America. We'll tell you, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is under fire again today, now dismissing calls for his, his own resignation, following the release of the shocking video showing Ray Rice hitting his wife, his now-wife, in an elevator. Critics say the video makes Goodell's initial decision to suspend Rice for two games not just soft, but incomprehensible.

Rice has been cut by the Ravens and suspended from the league indefinitely, some question what that means indefinitely.

CNN's Nischelle Turner has been following this from the very beginning and taking a closer look at now the first time that Roger Goodell is speaking out.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And it definitely means until Roger Goodell wants to let him back in, basically.

BOLDUAN: I guess so.

TURNER: You know, the thing that makes everybody so shocked about this is that this commissioner, Roger Goodell, has had the reputation for handing down long suspensions and heavy fines that a lot of players have deemed too tough and unfair in the past. So, to have this happen has people saying, who is this Goodell?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TURNER (voice-over): It's not just a sport, it's a gigantic business, raking in more than $9 billion each year and the man at the center of it all? Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, known for his tough relentless control over the league. Some wondering what happened to the man who promised to always protect the shield of the NFL. Deciding to suspend Ray Rice indefinitely, but only after a second surveillance tape of the February incident with his then- fiancee surfaced.

In an interview with CBS, Goodell explains why the league didn't act back in February when another tape, shot outside elevator, was made public.

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: What we saw yesterday was extremely clear, is extremely graphic and it was sickening, and that's why we took the action we took yesterday.

MIKE PESCA, HOST, THE GIST WITH MIKE PESCA ON SLATE: What we're seeing here is that the hanging judge is getting hanged.

TURNER: In charge of the league for the better part of a decade, Goodell's earnings last season reportedly topped $44 million. Why so much? Because he makes so much for the league, taking it to new financial heights.

The NFL landed deals with major networks, including NBC, CBS, FOX, and ESPN, amounting to $42 billion over the course of those contracts, according to Forbes. During that time, he's dealt with a series of league crises. When faced with Miami Dolphins bullying scandal last November, Goodell called for a culture change in the league. And his policy of cracking down on players pot use was criticized for being too strict in comparison to penalties for violence. But through it all, owners have praised his rule.

PESCA: They've piled money on him. They've stuffed his pockets with money. They seem to be saying, Goodell, you're doing a great job.

What the owners care about is how much money he makes for them. And he has been making them a lot of money. The value of franchise is up.

TURNER: When slammed with not doing enough to prevent player concussions, Goodell brokered a landmark $765 million settlement.

GOODELL: The big issue for us and for every player at every level in every sport has been pointed out here, is to make sure they're aware of the issues that come when you have a concussion and it is a serious injury.

TURNER: He's also ramped up penalties on domestic violence across the board.

GOODELL: The policy of the applied uniformly across players, coaches, executives, commissioners.

TURNER: But is it enough for him to keep his job? PESCA: I don't know if Roger Goodell has the ego to step back from his role of judge, jury and executioner, but I think that it's high time that he did.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER (on camera): Now the question is, will he? Well, that is doubtful because he still has the backing of the NFL owners, who are his bosses. They have faith in him. I just heard Bob Kraft who is the owner of the New England Patriots saying that this is a storm Roger Goodell will weather and that he should not step down. He said look, the NFL blew it this time, but they said that they blew it and going forward, Roger Goodell will make better decisions, guys.

BOLDUAN: I know.

TURNER: And Bob Kraft also said he does not believe Ray Rice will play another down in the NFL.

BOLDUAN: He said that as well.

TURNER: He did, he said if it was up to him he wouldn't pick him again.

BOLDUAN: I think a lot of people would agree with that. But, that's changed in the past. We'll have to see what happens going forward from here indefinitely.

CUOMO: We don't have to see, the new penalty is six games - -

BOLDUAN: Well, there you go.

CUOMO: - - for the first offense, so how do you keep Ray Rice out? Its more double talk.

TURNER: I hear you.

BOLDUAN: From the league, from the league, yes.

CUOMO: Not from you, I love you, and this was a great piece. But we're hearing more.

We're still learning about the situation. In fact, we have an NFL wife. She's going to pull back the curtain on what she says is a culture of ignoring domestic violence inside the NFL. Did you know there are other Ray Rices who will be playing on Sunday? And, how about this, two new iPhones and a smartwatch. We're going to tell you what you need to know about the pluses and minuses of new Apple gadgets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Alright, geek alert. You don't even need me to tell you that Apple has unveiled the next generation of Apple products.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) PEREIRA (voice-over): CEO Tim Cook debuted those new gadgets, including larger screen mobile devices, a watch that calculates your every move, and a new service that really could revolutionize the way you shop.

Now, after launching the first brand-new product category under his reign, has Cook lived up to the expectations of millions of Apple devotees? We will get to that with our CNN technology analyst, Brett Larson.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): And CNN's chief business correspondent, Christine Romans. Busy day for the two of you.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

PEREIRA: So much at stake and so much hanging in the balance here. First off, let's get to the phones, Brett. Couple new phones, bigger.

BRETT LARSON, CNN TECHNOLOGY ANALYST: Bigger.

PEREIRA: Exciting?

LARSON: Yes, very exciting.

PEREIRA: Christine was excited about the pixels on the camera.

LARSON: Which I think is great.

ROMANS: Yes, its going to be pretty.

LARSON: Yes, and they showed off some of the photography elements of the camera. It looks very cool. Image stabilization.

PEREIRA: Price point hasn't come down?

LARSON: Price point has not come down, which I was actually kind of surprised by that. Especially since more wireless carriers are now letting you just buy the phone outright as opposed to giving you that credit for signing a two-year contract. I was a little sticker shocked at the $900 price tag for a 64 gigabyte phone.

ROMANS: It's so rare that the phones are not the main attraction. It was always the phone, the iPhone, that was the big deal and this was one of the first times they've been able to, like, broaden out.

PEREIRA: The watch. Let's talk about the watch. What were your thoughts first when you saw this, Christine?

ROMANS: I think it looks cool, I think it's redundant. I think that we've all learned how to use the phone. People go running with their phone. The phone has become the watch. So, I'm going to be interested to see if there's consumer buy-in for something that costs $350.

PEREIRA: Here's the thing, is it going to be an early adopter kind of a device and that's where its going to end?

LARSON: It definitely will be, but I think what Apple did differently than Samsung and the previous wearable makers is they made it jewelry. Its not technology, its a piece of jewelry.

PEREIRA: We do love an accessory.

LARSON: They did a very good job of making it very sexy. I agree, when really pressed on well, why do I need the watch? Because you have to have the phone with the watch because they're kind of tied together.

PEREIRA: Good point.

LARSON: So why do I need to spend another $350 so I can have a little, tiny one-inch screen on my - I mean, I guess you get to be like Dick Tracy.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: That appeals to you?

LARSON: Yes, it does. I would definitely do that.

PEREIRA: Let's discuss the thing that has ramifications along, in a much broader sense. We want to talk about this pace because, given the news of last week, there are things to discuss with you, Romans. But first - -

LARSON: Yes.

PEREIRA: - - this pay system. Are you hearing the death knell for the credit card?

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

LARSON (voice-over): Absolutely. I mean, how many times do big retailers need to be hacked? How many times do I have to get a new credit card because some place I happened to shop got hacked?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

LARSON (on camera): This kind of brings a new level of security to online payments. What's interesting about it, they're not the first people to do this.

PEREIRA: No.

LARSON: But they also weren't the first people to make an online music store, and where is Virgin Records?

PEREIRA: Let's get to (inaudible). How does it work? Give me an idea, because people at home will need to know because that will bring up all sorts of other - -

LARSON: Very simple. It's almost like the badge we use here to get into work. You pull it out, you tap it on a reader and the gates open or the doors unlock.

ROMANS: The security part of it is so interesting. When you take a picture of your credit card, the credit card is stored there. But when you use it with Chase or McDonald's or Target, all of these companies that have said they are now partnering with this pay system. When you use it at the retailer, it's an individually generated transaction. So if that retailer is hacked, then your card has not been exposed.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: If they do this right, the piece of plastic in your pocket - -

PEREIRA: Obsolete.

ROMANS: - - is going to be like a Model T. And remember, the credit card is ripe for disruption. How we pay for things is ripe for disruption. The question will be again, will consumers buy in? Because Google has a - - other people have done this and consumers still haven't bought in. I will say that millennials, 63% of millenials when surveyed this week, found that they don't even have a credit card at all.

PEREIRA: Oh, yea.

LARSON: Just shocking.

ROMANS: It might be young people who are the ones who really--

PEREIRA: They're the future.

ROMANS: Not that we're not young, but I'm just saying.

PEREIRA: In our mind.

Here's the question, Christine. Timing. Last week iCloud, situation with celebrities, compromising photos being accessed and put online. That's a breach that is fresh in our minds.

ROMANS: I saw a political cartoon this morning, it was someone running and it was the watch telling them how fast they were running and, by the way, there were four to six nude photographs of yours that have just hacked, you know. They're getting a little bit of grief for that. The timing, I think, is actually good, because if they can show the security and it really works, if they can really show the security layer, then I think people might buy in.

PEREIRA: Here's the question.

LARSON: Okay.

PEREIRA: Tim Cook, leadership under - - new leadership for him. This is a big product launch for him. Is this revolutionary Steve Jobs- type innovation?

LARSON: I think Steve would have made it a little sexier. He would have been a little more Barnum and Bailey. He would have - -

PEREIRA: More showmanship.

LARSON: There would have been one - - I mean, I love that he used the one more thing line when he talked about the watch. It was nice to see that brought back, but I feel like Steve would have brought something sexy about -

PEREIRA: Je ne sais quoi

LARSON: I mean, and how do you make paying for stuff sexy?

(LAUGHTER)

LARSON: He would have found a way to make-- I love the video of the woman fumbling with her wallet. I did that this morning in the taxi cab. But its like, I wanted that little bit sexiness, but we're under new management with Apple. So this is what we've come to expect from him. Very straightforward.

PEREIRA: Now here's the question. Which will be the products and the items and this pay service, what will consumers embrace? Brett Larson, Christine Romans, thanks for going through it all with me. I appreciate it. Chris?

CUOMO: So now I know what I have to do when it comes to getting a new phone, or maybe even a watch and a phone, or maybe one or the other. We also need to know what the president is going to say tonight. And of course, is what we're learning about the NFL and Ray Rice just the beginning? A lot of news this morning, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Obama, he is getting set to address the nation tonight on his strategy to eliminate ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until we know what the strategy is, we don't know what's going to be involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not interested in piecemeal efforts where we don't finish the job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under a firestorm of criticism, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaking out.

GOODELL: We asked for video, but we were never granted that opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is something that happens quite often.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not peace for Mike Brown to die for some change to come.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look around you, we're not going to let you go back to business as usual.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning, welcome back to NEW DAY. Breaking new details, air strikes against ISIS in Syria on the table.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (voice-over): When President Obama unveils his strategy for defeating the terror group in a major speech to you tonight, the president is also expected to say he won't seek approval from Congress for such action. What does that mean?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (on camera): Let's bring in senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta. There's definitely going to be some controversy. But, maybe for the first time in recent history, Congress is going to be silent.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right, Chris. Look for three major themes in President Obama's speech to the nation this evening.

First, the president will frame the threat posed by ISIS. During this portion of the address the president will offer a big picture of how he views ISIS, how it's become a core national security priority as Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, mentioned during the briefing yesterday. And how ISIS cannot be allowed to secure a safe haven in that borderless part of the world. That of course means both Iraq and Syria.

Second, he will lay out his strategy. And this portion of the speech is obviously intended to counter that perception which he in fact fostered, that he doesn't have a plan for dealing with the ISIS threat. The strategy is, administration officials have specified, involves building an international coalition, including Arab partners in the region and Iraqi and potentially Syrian rebels, but no U.S. combat troops on the ground.

Third, the official says the president, that I've talked to, says the president will lay out a series of new proposals. I'm told this will make some news, Chris, on how he plans to take the fight to ISIS to degrade and ultimately destroy the terror group.

Officials say the president is open to air strikes on ISIS targets in Syria. But whether we will hear, whether or not he's authorized those air strikes, that is the big question. But consider this quote from a White House official, I think it's fairly descriptive, Chris. It tells you where we're at right now. Tonight you will hear from the president how the United States will pursue a comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL. That's what they call them at the White House, not ISIS. Including U.S. military action and support for the forces combating ISIL on the ground, both the opposition and in Syria and a new inclusive Iraqi government, Chris. That suggests that what the president will talk about tonight will go after ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. Chris?

CUOMO: Well, this is very interesting, Jim. Thank you for advancing the story. I guess they're banking that Congress, so close to the mid-terms, doesn't want to gamble on a vote. They're going to try and do as little as possible here, which means more leeway for the president. You got me with this word proposals. Can we put any meat on those bones?

ACOSTA: I definitely think the president will be talking about arming the Syrian opposition, that is something they've been talking about for months now that they would like to do. The problem is of course, vetting and making sure that you're arming the right Syrian rebel. So I think the president will talk about that tonight.

The White House said last night that the president believes he has all the authority he needs to carry out the mission he will lay out in this speech. But for now, this official said, the president will not be asking Congress for any additional authority. That, I think that implies, Chris, when they say that he has the authority already in hand, that they're not going to dramatically expand the mission against ISIS militarily. But I think he's going to start laying the table, sort of a roll-out if you will, in terms of how they will be doing this over the coming weeks. Chris.

CUOMO: Now I'm even more interested in hearing how he gets this done tonight.

ACOSTA: That's right.

CUOMO: Thank you very much, from the White House, we'll be back with you, Jim. Appreciate it.

ACOSTA: Sure.

BOLDUAN: Joining us now to discuss all of this, General Anthony Zinni, former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command, as well as the author of "Before the First Shots Are Fired: How America Can Win or Lose Off the Battlefield." General, its great to have you here and critical to have you here on this very important day.